kthorne@umich.edu
This is a large quilt, about 56 X 56. It hangs on my sewing room wall. 2004
There are more quilts to view, see sidebar for categories.
I started out making free-cut blocks in black with white/black patterned fabric. Two of these fabrics are Australian, I love those fabrics. After doing about 20 and looking at them on the design wall, I decided the whole thing was going to need a bit of color. So I added the little strips of color to each of the blocks and then finished the arrangement. Better! No matter which way I turned this piece, I liked the overall arrangement, but I ended up with this one.
Detail
I usually make free-cut circles that come out looking a lot like real circles, that is they are fairly regular and feature evenly spaced bands of fabric. This time I decided to see what I would get if I made my cuts more linear. A little more challenging to sew. I used my hand-dyed and stenciled fabrics. I like the drama of this one.
Detail:
Another detail:
OK, no need to be alarmed by this quilt, I just thought it looked like some kind of danger warning, perhaps? It just turned out that way. Hmmmm.
Anyway, I started it because I wanted to have a few new sample pieces to show the Greater Ann Arbor Quilt Guild members how to do the free-cut circle technique to make blocks that can be in a variety of styles. I’m doing a demonstration of the technique at our November meeting. I started with just blue and black/white, however it was calling out for some red. So I added the dots in the circle and then added some red in the border. I like the look of circular quilting, so I did that stitching around the center circle block. I’m almost finished with another quilt that looks entirely different. You’ll see that one soon.
Detail, with my signature: K McGrath 2019.
I recently did a quilt like this, with triangles and a diagonal arrangement, called Path to Nowhere. I wanted to do one in muted, autumnal colors. Here it is! Quilted all over with a random up-down-over type of pattern. I think it works for this piece. Size about 51 x 51″.
Detail:
My friend Wilma liked one of my previous quilts, but she is a grayed tones kinda decorator. So I made her a similar one, with commercial prints and some of my hand dyed fabric. I think the browns add some depth and richness to the greys. It’s about 24 x 24″.
Detail:
Whole thing:
OK, I occasionally get the urge to do something sorta traditional. The colorful points around the center are “paper pieced”. You start with a piece of paper that has the pattern printed on it. Then sew the fabric right onto the paper, using tiny stitches so it’s easier to release the paper later. Here is the paper pattern:
I got most of these cool fabrics recently at a new quilt store near my home. Love to have those local quilt stores so handy!! The white background pieces are from my “white on white” collection. I think I used four different ones. This piece is 24 X 24″ and stretched on a canvas frame.
Detail:
I have a book, including patterns, by Victoria Findlay Wolfe. It features her fabulous Double Wedding Ring quilts. She makes this traditional pattern look very modern. I made one several years ago using feedsack fabrics.
This time I decided to use scrap fabrics. I have LOTS of them. Here’s a sample pile.
I sewed them together, with no planned selection. Then I could use the “new fabric” to cut out the templates for the quilt.
Using my design wall, I put up some pieces and started arranging. I decided to use a mottled blue fabric as the color to tie it all together. (Someone once opined that denim is the new neutral color, because everything goes with it. I have to agree.)
Here’s how it finally turned out. I am sure you can guess why I called it “Unchained”. 🙂
